The True Meaning of Independence

The True Meaning of Interdependence:
While I am not naive as to what is meant culturally when we celebrate Independence, I am increasingly unable to let the word slide by in conversation, or  in long-commercialized holiday celebrations.

Our fundamental reality is that we are NOT independent. We are intimately entwined to multitudes of forces on which we rely for our most basic existence. Even if we only accept what we see with the obvious eye, we can not deny our dependence on the intelligence of nature, of which we, too, are an expression.
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Earthen richness to grow the plant materials on which we depend (whether it’s kale, potatoes for chips, or marijuana for CBD).
Water to hydrate, bathe, or brew coffee.
Fire for the warmth of the sun and the ripening of fruits on the vine.
Air for the precious exchange between us and the plant life on which we depend.

Our bodies, temporary and finite as they are, are described through yoga and Ayurveda as being comprised of these 5 elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether.
The density of muscles and bones;
the fluids the myofacial and organ systems, circulation, hydration of eyes, nose, joints, and more;
the fire that supports our metabolic processes;
the air we breathe;
and the most subtle form, ether, infusing the spaces.

The next time you practice savasana I encourage you to try on this mantra:
Earth returns to earth.
Water returns to water.
Fire returns to fire.
Air returns to air.
Ether returns to ether.

I am only being loaned these elements as a grace through which I might live,
and love, and serve,
and express gratitude.

Since this holiday is intended as a celebration, I’ll reserve my further reflections on our ecological dependence (and our dilemma) for now. I know people are accustomed to shorter attention spans and we sometimes wince when a newsletter or an email asks more of us than we can digest in one sitting.

Embracing Interdependence
While  I could elaborate on brain science and our survival impulses many of you have already heard discussions on this or have read other writings.
Today, may we consider these interdependences:

• The roads on which you will travel were paved by people you’ve likely never met and whose lives likely preceded yours. Perhaps they were preparing for your arrival.
• The electricity and the technology on which you depend (in order to charge the device on which you are reading this) were developed by people you’ve never met whose instincts included innovation, connection, or communication. While so much of our computerized time seems to be causing separation, perhaps today remembering those who are supporting you to have this opportunity at all will remind you of your dependence on them. May we read, type, swipe, shop, listen, and respond with gratitude for the support offered to us.
• If you’re attending a family gathering, consider its poignancy and that it is a potent window into our vulnerability and our grace. Explore the value of seeing this configuration of cells and that configuration of cells (family members) as coming along with its developed personalities, biases, curiosities, quirks, annoyances, and amiability. And, while you’re looking through this lens, imagine each person shaped by the biologically hard-wired needs for safety and connection throughout their life span.   Each shaped by relationships and events you weren’t at, as well as cultural, historical, and intergenerational forces.  If you can see your family members with yoga’s “x-ray vision”, you will see their indwelling “suchness” and the character that they have become. Perhaps you will also play a small role in the direction toward which they lean their curiosity and vitality!   Rather than seeing people as their problems or their annoyances, for this weekend, let’s view them as the combination of countless processes from which they have been shaped.

Freedom, Not Independence
Perhaps a pursuit worthy of more commitment than independence is Freedom:

• Freedom from suffering.
• Freedom from the limiting ideas we have about ourselves and each other.
• Freedom from the conditioning in us that perpetuates harm and separateness. Freedom from our guardedness and the inevitable distancing in us from the divine (a distance which causes inner restlessness - even when we aren’t aware that it is the divine for which we long - and which we may try to fill with busyness, possessions, distractions, substances, opinions, and so on).

Yoga teaches us that it is possible, through skillful means, dedicated effort, and non-attachment, to become free from that which binds us. The more of us dedicated to this freedom, the more loving, conscious, intimate, and wisely interdependent our communities, and our world can become.